


Tired Of Pretending

by Eternal Scribe (Shadowcat)



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-27
Updated: 2012-10-27
Packaged: 2017-11-17 03:39:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/547222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowcat/pseuds/Eternal%20Scribe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"That blonde heiress can be the one who could finance my next project, Mara!"</p>
<p>"At what cost, Geoff?"</p>
<p>His eyes widened slightly. "What do you mean, sweetheart?"</p>
<p>"I mean, how much are you willing to risk and to lose for this newest project of yours? Are you willing to risk the band... me?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tired Of Pretending

**Author's Note:**

> Another old original story that I found in my archives.

"Why did you pretend not to see me?"

Her voice was full of both hurt and anger, and he forced himself to turn to look at her. She was standing in the doorway, looking at him carefully.

"Mara..."

"No. I want to know why you acted like you didn't see me standing there when I know for a fact that you did."

"It's complicated."

"I'm your fiance, dammit. Completely ignoring me at a function like that and pretending that you didn't even see me standing there, watching you, is unacceptable." She shook her head. "I can't keep doing this, Geoff. It hurts too damn much."

"Mara, it's a necessary evil."

"Necessary for who?" Her voice was tight. "When you first told me that all of this was for my safety and security, I believed you. But now..."

"Now?" He had that heavy feeling in his chest.

"Now I'm wondering how much of this charade is for your benefit? You can get all of those girls to hang all over you and listen to your every word much easier if you play at the game of being single and unattached."

"You can't really believe that?"

"Can't I?" She shook her head. "Geoff, you looked right at me, stared me in the eye, and then glanced away like I didn't exist." She sighed. "You pretended that I wasn't there and went right back to chasing that blonde heiress."

"That blonde heiress can be the one who could finance my next project, Mara!"

"At what cost, Geoff?"

His eyes widened slightly. "What do you mean, sweetheart?"

"I mean, how much are you willing to risk and to lose for this newest project of yours? Are you willing to risk the band... me?"

He made a step towards her. "What do you mean?" He swallowed. "Risk you how?"

"I don't think I can live like this any longer, Geoff," she said sadly. "Watching you with everyone... all of those other women in public while you keep as some dirty little secret that you don't want anyone to find out about... it's too much."

He just stared at her for a long moment, quiet and at a loss for words for a very long time. "Mara..."

"I love you, Geoff, but I just cannot stand to watch the way you flirt and play up to all of these women to further your ambition."

"I'm doing all of this for us!"

She shook her head sadly. "No," she whispered. "You're not, not any longer, anyway."

"How can you say that?" He gestured his hand in the air. "All of the sacrifices... all of the late nights, I'm doing it for us."

"Bullshit, Geoff. You're doing it for you. You have been doing it for you ever since you realized that you loved all of the attention everyone is lavishing upon you." She finally let him see that there were tears falling. "You've lost yourself, Geoff. You've lost us."

Mara turned on her heel and headed for the bedroom, Geoff following her. He watched as she took out a suitcase and set it on the bed. When she started filling it with her clothes from the closet, Geoff tried to stop her.

"Mara... no, don't do this."

She moved his hands away from her suitcase.

"I have to, Geoff. I cannot live like this any more. It's not right and it's not fair to either of us. I don't know who you are any longer, and I hate whom I am becoming." She zipped up the suitcase and looked at him sadly. "I love you, and I tried to believe that you still loved me."

"Mara, I do love you. I love you more than anything."

She uttered a laugh that sounded somewhat hollow. "Not more than anything, Geoff. I can't compete with the illusions of life that you create when you're out in public." She picked up the suitcase and started for the door, Geoff trailing in her wake. At the door, she turned to look at him. "I love you. I just hope all of your ambitions and sacrifices are worth it one day."

He stared at her, not believing what was happening here. "Don't leave, Mara, please. We can work this out. We always have before."

She lay a hand against his face, looking into his eyes. "Not right now... not at this time, we can't. You're still set on this road like you have been for several months, now." She kissed him and then stepped back, her hand on the door. "Good luck, Geoff. I hope your success is all that you have hoped it to be."

Geoff didn't say anything until the door closed behind her and he heard her retreating footsteps down the hall and to the bank of elevators.

"Mara," he said quietly into the emptiness of the apartment. "Come back. Please come back."

~***~

It had been several weeks since she had left the penthouse and he had resisted looking for her during that entire time. However, the emptiness that he was feeling finally spurred him into action.

He entered the club that she was working at, but made sure to stay at the back. He didn't want her to see him yet and he stayed hidden in the shadows.

He watched her work the crowd from up on the stage and he was reminded of everything about her that had made him fall in love. She was so natural up there and so completely unaware of the seductive effect she had on people. Every time he had pointed out her sex appeal to her, she would shake her head and brush off his comments.

When her set was over and she disappeared into the back, he left the shadows and slipped into the corridors in the back. When he reached her dressing room, he didn't bother to knock. He let himself in and leaned against the door.

He knew that she was aware he was there and when she met his eyes through the mirror, he flinched slightly at the sadness that was swimming there.

Had he been the one that had really caused that depth of pain in her eyes?

"What are you doing here?"

"I needed to see you."

"Aren't you leaving a hole in a debutante sandwich somewhere?"

The bitterness in her tone surprised him, but he supposed that he did deserve her scathing remarks right now.

"Can we talk?"

"We don't really have anything to talk about," she said quietly, looking away from the mirror.

"We have plenty to talk about," he said just as quietly, walking towards her. "Don't shut me out, please?"

She spun around in her chair and glared at him. "Why shouldn't I? How many times have you shut me out and turned away, so much more focused on the glitter and the glamour of all of those girls hanging on you? How many times did I sit alone at home because you didn't want any of your conquests to know you had a fiance?"

He swallowed, not exactly sure what he should say to that. He searched her face while he tried to sort out the things in his head. "I never meant to hurt you. I swear! The last thing I ever wanted to do was cause you pain, Mara."

"And yet you got to be so good at it, even when people tried to alert you to the path that you were traveling down."

"Things are different, now, Mara."

Her eyes were hard as she looked at him. "I really wish that I could believe that, Geoff." She shook her head. "I just don't believe in you and your words any more. I did for so long, and now there is nothing left to believe in."

Of everything that he had expected to come from her, those words were nothing like he had thought he would hear. "No, that's not true, Mara. You can believe in me, just please, give me another chance. Just come back home."

Mara shook her head, tears in her eyes. "I can't do that, Geoff. I cannot live like that again. I don't have anything left but my pride, and I'm determined to hold onto that."

"Won't you even give me a second chance? We've been through so much together and it makes no sense to just throw everything we have away."

Mara raised an eyebrow at him. "How many more second chances do you think you need, Geoff?" She shook her head and stood up. She seemed to be thinking about something for a long moment, and then she walked over to him and her dressing room door. She met his eyes once before opening the door. "You should leave, Geoff," she whispered, looking down at the floor. "I love you, but I will not continue to have my emotions on a roller coaster with you. Just go."

"I'm not giving up, Mara," he said softly. He touched her face gently, before bowing his head and walking out the door.


End file.
